Systems and methods of fast wireless output device activation in a mesh network system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of fast wireless output device activation in a mesh network system are provided. Methods can include a parent device receiving data from a child device, the parent device determining if the data received from the child device requires an output, and if so, the parent device activating an output device associated with the parent device. In some methods, the parent device need not wait for instructions from a control panel or gateway before activating the output device. Accordingly, the latency time to activate the output device can be reduced.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/645,766, filed Oct. 5, 2012, the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a mesh network system. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods offast wireless output device activation in a mesh network system.

BACKGROUND

Communication in a fire detection system is rare unless a pre-fire orfire scenario is occurring. For example, when devices in a firedetection system are sensing alarming levels of heat or smoke, all inputdevices in the system can transmit alarms and/or data to a gateway.Often, these transmissions can be substantially simultaneous.Accordingly, a cascading wave communication protocol can supportcommunication in these types of worst-case scenarios.

A cascading wave communication protocol works on the principal of dataaggregation. For example, a wireless fire detection system can includefour sensors S1, S2, S3, and S4. As seen in FIG. 1, a packet transmittedby sensor S4 includes only S4's data. When the packet is received bysensor S3, sensor S3 appends its data to S4's data and transmits thepacket to sensor S2. When the packet reaches a panel P, the packet caninclude data from all four sensors S1, S2, S3, and S4.

A large wireless fire system loop can include any number of devices, forexample, N devices. In these systems, the cascading wave communicationprotocol can support a packet size large enough to aggregate data fromall N devices. For example, each communication time slot can be longenough to accommodate a maximum size packet.

To enable efficient data aggregation without increasing message latency,child nodes can be allocated communication time slots before the parentnodes. In FIG. 1, sensor S3 can be a router or parent of sensor S4,sensor S2 can be a parent of sensor S3, and so on. The communicationtime slots allocated to sensors S4, S3, S2, and S1 can be slot 1, slot2, slot 3, and slot 4, respectively. Accordingly, a child node's datacan always be available at the parent node during the parent node'scommunication time slot. In this manner, the parent node can aggregateits own data with the data received from its child node. Then, theparent node can transmit the aggregated data together in a singlepacket.

In some systems, a parent node can have multiple child nodes. However,the communication time slots of all child nodes can occur before thecommunication time slot of the parent node. Accordingly, a packettransmitted by a parent can contain its own data aggregated with thedata or alarms received from all of its child nodes.

Due to the aggregation described above, the transmission of data fromfour nodes requires four communication time slots. Similarly, thetransmission of data from N nodes requires N transmission time slots. Inthis manner, a control panel can receive data from each of the nodes inthe network.

Using the same protocol described above, a control panel can alsotransmit data to nodes in a network. For example, a fire panel cantransmit data to N nodes in a network, and the data can reach each ofthe N nodes in respective ones of N time slots. When the control paneltransmits data to nodes, the slot allocation of the nodes can bereversed.

When a device in a wireless system detects an alarm, the device cantransmit data to a gateway. The gateway can be polled by a control panelin a wired system, which, depending on the content of the received data,can activate various output devices. When one of the output devices tobe activated is part of the wireless system, the control panel cantransmit instructions to the gateway, which can retransmit theinstructions to the output device. In these circumstances, the latencytime to activate the output device in the wireless system can be the sumof the time for the gateway to receive data from a device, the time forthe gateway to transmit data to the control panel, the time for thegateway to receive instructions from the control panel, and the time forthe gateway to transmit the instructions to an output device. That is:T _(tot) =T _(input_gw)+_(Tgw_panel)+_(Tpanel_gw) +T _(gw_output)  (1)

In various situations, the length of this latency time can beproblematic. Accordingly, there is a continuing, ongoing need forsystems and methods of fast wireless output device activation in a meshnetwork system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of time-slotted communication using acascading wave communication protocol;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless fire detection system connectedto a wired fire detection system via a gateway;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method in accordance with disclosedembodiments; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a wireless device in accordance withdisclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of an embodiment in many differentforms, there are shown in the drawings and will be described herein indetail specific embodiments thereof with the understanding that thepresent disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of theprinciples of the invention. It is not intended to limit the inventionto the specific illustrated embodiments.

Embodiments disclosed herein include systems and methods of fastwireless output device activation in a mesh network system.

In some embodiments, the status of a child device can be made availableto a parent device substantially immediately. Accordingly, a meshnetwork can be organized in such a way that the output to be activatedby a certain input is a parent of that input. When arranged in thismanner, an output can be activated without waiting for a command from acontrol panel.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a wireless fire detection system 100 connected toa wired fire detection system 200 via a gateway 110. As seen in FIG. 1,the wireless system 100 can include four devices or nodes: a wirelessoutput module 120-1, a wireless sounder strobe 120-2, a wireless callpoint 120-3, and a wireless detector 120-4. The call point 120-3 can bethe child of both the sounder strobe 120-2 and the output module 120-1.The output module 120-2 can control an electromagnet to close a firedoor 130.

In some embodiment, the sounder strobe 120-2 and the output module 120-1can check messages coming from the call point 120-3. When either thesounder strobe 120-2 or the output module 120-1 receives a message fromthe call point 120-3 that indicates an alarm condition, the sounderstrobe 120-2 and/or the output module 120-1 can activate itself to emitan output. For example, the sounder strobe can emit a sounding siren orstrobe a light. Similarly, the output module 120-1 can cause theelectromagnet to close the fire door 130.

In accordance with disclosed embodiments, the sounder strobe 120-2 andthe output module 120-1 need not wait for a command transmitted by thecontrol panel 210 via the gateway 110. Accordingly, the latency time toactivate an output device in the wireless system can be reduced ascompared to systems and methods known in the art.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method 300 in accordance with disclosedembodiments. As seen in FIG. 3, the method 300 can include a parent nodedetermining if any data has been received from one of its child nodes asin 310. For example, the parent node can include an output device, andthe child node can include an input device. Both the parent node and thechild node can be part of a wireless system.

If the method 300 determines that the parent node has not received datafrom any of its child nodes as in 310, then the method 300 can continuedetermining if the parent node has received any data from one of itschild nodes as in 310. However, if the method 300 determines that theparent node has received data from one of its child nodes as in 310,then the method 300 can include the parent node determining if thereceived data requires an output as in 320.

If the method 300 determines that the received data does not require anoutput as in 320, then the method 300 can continue determining if theparent node has received any data from one of its child nodes as in 310.However, if the method 300 determines that the received data requires anoutput as in 320, then the method 300 can include the parent nodeactivating its own output device as in 330.

After the method 300 determines that the parent node has received datafrom one of its child nodes as in 310, the method 300 can also includethe parent node appending its own data to the data received from thechild node(s) as in 340. Then, the parent node can transmit a packet tothe parent node's parent as in 350. For example, the packet transmittedby the parent node can include the data from the parent node appended tothe data received from the child node(s). In some embodiments, theparent node's parent can include a gateway.

In some embodiments, the parent node determining if the received datarequires an output as in 320 and the parent node activating its outputdevice as in 330 can occur substantially simultaneously with the parentnode appending its data to data received from a child node as in 340 andthe parent node transmitting a packet to the parent node's parent as in350. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the parent node need not wait forinstructions from the parent node's parent before activating its outputdevice. That is, the parent node can activate its own output deviceprior to receiving instructions from a control panel or gateway.

The method 300 of FIG. 3 and others in accordance with disclosedembodiments can be executed by the wireless device 400 shown in FIG. 4.For example, the wireless device 400 can be part of the wireless firedetection system 100 shown in FIG. 1.

As seen in FIG. 4, the wireless device 400 can include an output device410, a transceiver 420, control circuitry 430, one or more programmableprocessors 440, and executable control software 450. The executablecontrol software 450 can be stored on a transitory or non-transitorycomputer readable medium, including but not limited to, computer memory,RAM, optical storage media, magnetic storage media, flash memory, andthe like. In some embodiments, the programmable processor 440 and theexecutable control software 450 can execute at least some steps of themethod 300 shown in FIG. 3 as well as others described herein.

For example, the programmable processor 440 and the executable controlsoftware 450 can use the transceiver 420 to determine if any data hasbeen received from a child node of the wireless device 400. Theprogrammable processor 440 and the executable control software 450 canalso determine if any received data requires an output. If so, then theprogrammable processor 440 and the executable control software 450 canactivate the output device 410.

Although a few embodiments have been described in detail above, othermodifications are possible. For example, the logic flows described abovedo not require the particular order described, or sequential order, toachieve desirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may beeliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be addedto, or removed from, the described systems. Other embodiments may bewithin the scope of the invention.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations andmodifications may be effected without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation withrespect to the specific system or method described herein is intended orshould be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover all suchmodifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: wirelessly receiving, by aparent device, child device data from a child device; appending, by theparent device, parent device data to the child device data; andwirelessly transmitting, by the parent device, a packet to a controlpanel when the parent device receives the child device data from thechild device, wherein the packet includes the parent device dataappended to the child device data.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining, by the parent device, whether the child devicedata indicates an alarm condition; and activating, by the parent device,a sounder strobe upon determining the child device data indicates thealarm condition.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingactivating, by the parent device, the sounder strobe without waiting fora command from the control panel.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising activating, by the parent device, a sounder strobesubstantially simultaneously with transmitting the packet to the controlpanel.
 5. The method of claim 1, the child device data includes a statusof the child device.
 6. A parent wireless device, comprising: atransceiver; a programmable processor; and executable control softwarestored on a non-transitory computer readable medium; wherein: thetransceiver is configured to wirelessly receive child device data from achild device; the programmable processor and the executable controlsoftware are configured to append parent device data to the child devicedata; and the transceiver is configured to wirelessly transmit a packetto a control panel when the transceiver receives the child device datafrom the child device, wherein the packet includes the parent devicedata appended to the child device data.
 7. The parent wireless device ofclaim 6, wherein the parent wireless device further comprises a sirendevice configured to emit a siren.
 8. The parent wireless device ofclaim 6, wherein the parent wireless device further comprises a strobedevice configured to emit a strobe light.
 9. The parent wireless deviceof claim 6, wherein the parent wireless device further comprises anelectromagnet configured to open or close a fire door.
 10. The parentwireless device of claim 6, wherein the child device data includes anindication of an alarm condition.
 11. The parent wireless device ofclaim 6, wherein the programmable processor and the executable controlsoftware are configured to determine the child device data has beenreceived from the child device.
 12. The parent wireless device of claim6, wherein the programmable processor and the executable controlsoftware are configured to determine whether the child device datarequires an output.
 13. The parent wireless device of claim 12, whereinthe programmable processor and the executable control software areconfigured to active an output device of the parent wireless device upondetermining the child device data requires the output.
 14. A system,comprising: a control panel; a parent device; and a child device;wherein: the child device is configured to wirelessly transmit childdevice data to the parent device; and the parent device is configuredto: append parent device data to the child device data; and wirelesslytransmit a packet to the control panel when the parent device receivesthe child device data from the child device, wherein the packet includesthe parent device data appended to the child device data.
 15. The systemof claim 14, wherein the parent device, the child device, and thecontrol panel are distinct devices.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein:the system further comprises a gateway in wired communication with thecontrol panel and wireless communication with the parent device; and theparent device is configured to transmit the packet to the control panelvia the gateway.
 17. The system of claim 14, wherein the child devicecomprises a wireless call point.
 18. The system of claim 14, wherein thechild device is configured to wirelessly transmit messages to the parentdevice.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the parent device isconfigured to activate an output device of the parent device prior toreceiving instructions from the control panel.
 20. The system of claim14, wherein the system comprises: a wired fire detection systemcomprising the control panel; and a wireless fire detection systemcomprising the parent device and the child device.